Thanks to Sarah for the presentations and to Alex for talking us through the current situation. Great work to everyone who wrote a letter too- we have a big stack to send! Letters are really vital to the work the Amnesty International does, and every one counts.

A big, hearty GU Amnesty welcome to everyone! It was great to see so many of you along; but apologies to everyone who had to sit on the floor. More chairs are in order for next week – although we borrowed several this week in fact!

We’re back! September has arrived and the new term is nearly upon us. This is a busy time for everyone and a really important time for us with new members and a whole bunch of events to kick off the new academic year.

Freshers’ Week

15-21 September 2014

Freshers’ week is one of the most important parts of the year for us- chances are high if you’re reading this that you’ve at least wandered by our stall during Freshers Week one September! If you’ve an hour to spare (or more), please come along– it’s a great way to meet the new faces who’ll be coming along this year and would really help us out. Get in touch with us either via email, Facebook or Twitter; or if you prefer you can fill in the Doodle: http://doodle.com/65zgchrx98mvgwun#table. Let us know, we’ll really appreciate it. If you don’t, well:

But if you are able to lend a hand, then:

Avian persuasions aside1, if you can come along that would be great and we’d love to see you there.

The Freshers’ Fair Stall

16-17 September, 10-4, Randolph Hall

We have booked a stall which will be in Randolph Hall on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th September from 10 AM to 4PM. Wearing our best smiles we’ll be chatting to Freshers about what we do, our meetings and events, and generally looking like the society that everybody wants to join.

If you’d like to come along and take part I’m certain you’d find it a useful and positive experience. Or if you’d like to help out we could use folks to take people from one station to another (no prep work needed- script you can read from provided!) that would be really helpful. Let us know as mentioned above.

Activist Mixer/Social

Sunday 21st September, Curler’s Rest, 5 PM onwards

Thanks again to Kit of STAR, there is an activist mixer on Sunday 21st September in Curler’s Rest on Byres Road (by the subway). Invitations have gone out to a number of activist groups on campus, so there will be a mix of different groups doing good work. It’s a great opportunity to find out about what other societies are doing, and to network; we as a group tend to work with a number of familiar faces so it’s useful to meet these good folks. Come along for a bit if you’re passing and say hi.

(Provisional) Activism Talk

Thursday 18th September, Afternoon

Although this is provisional, we are hoping to do a talk on activism on the afternoon of 18th of September. We’re discussing with the SRC what we can do, it would be good to see some familiar faces in the crowd if it does go ahead. Keep an eye on the website, Facebook or Twitter for updates on time and venue.

First Meeting of 2014-15!

Tuesday 23rd September, 5PM, QMU

Fun! Excitement! Presentations!

We’ll be kicking off the academic year with our first meeting on Tuesday 23rd September in the QMU at 5PM. We’ll be giving an overview of what we do for new members, introducing the committee and giving information about upcoming campaigns, events- which includes the election of two ordinary board members. This is a committee position which gives even greater opportunity to be involved in the planning and direction of GU Amnesty.

First Social of 2014-15

Following on from our first meeting we will be having our first social. This will be held at The Old Schoolhouse in Woodlands Road after the first meeting (roughly 7PM). If you don’t know where it is, don’t worry, it’s close by and we’ll walk you there. It’s a really good way to get to know folks – invariably the members of GU Amnesty are great folk to hang out with as well as outstanding campaigners!

Other Upcoming Events and Info

We already have a number of exciting things planned for Freshers’ Week and our first campaign, but there are plenty of other things going on which you might be interested in.

GHRN Events and Bulletin Information

The Glasgow Human Rights Network aims to bring together researchers, practitioners,
members of civil society organisations and policymakers who address human rights issues.

Their events can be very informative for those looking to go a bit deeper into human rights issues, especially those that see themselves either working, pursuing further education or researching in the field.

The latest bulletin had too many events to list here, but if you are interested you can find details on how to subscribe to their website, linked above. If there’s any difficulties finding the details, please get in touch with us and we’ll help you out.

I Am Troy Davis Community Book Club

21st September-10th October 2014

On September 21, 2011, the State of Georgia put Troy Davis to death despite a compelling case of innocence. To mark the 3-year anniversary of this travest9thy of justice, and to deepen and widen the discourse about the human impact of the death penalty and criminal justice system, we invite you to participate in a worldwide Community Book Club between September 21 and October 10, World Day Against the Death Penalty. Through hundreds of intimate gatherings across the country and the world, Troy’s story will reach and impact thousands of new people.

The case of Troy Davis is one we’ve campaigned on in the past, and it continues to be a focal point in the case for the abolition of the death penalty. If you’re interested, please take the time to have a look at I Am Tro Davis and the Community Bookclub. The death penalty is a campaign we will return to in October. If you’re interested in more information or the book please contact our campaigns manager Alex or the good folks at I Am Troy Davis above.

Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival

1-19 October 2014

There’s a film being screened on 9th October, the UK premiere of Beneath the Blindfold telling the stories of four torture survivors. As a heads-up, we have a death penalty-related event putatively pencilled in for the same day, but details will follow and it may be of interest.

Get in Touch

There’s lots on in the coming week or two, and even more beyond but this newsletter has to end somewhere! There will be more coming next week, and every week after that. Well done for making it to the end this time. Your picture rewards are the two birds included above.

The room for our (rather packed!) meeting on Tuesday has been confirmed as 433 in the St Andrews Building. Check out the previous post for details, particularly if you were thinking of standing in the EGM!

The St Andrews Building is located on Woodlands Road, across from the Old Schoolhouse (pub) – see OpenStreetMap below for more info.

We’ve got another interesting week ahead of us, our main meeting is going to focus on Syria and we’re making a start on the table decorations for the Secret Policeman’s Ball. So if you want a varied and full session of human rights action, come along and meet us at our usual time a place Tomorrow – 5pm – QMU – Committee Room 1.

This Week’s Meeting:

Jana is gong to give us a presentation on the Syrian Civil War in a human rights context. It is the other end of the spectrum from what we heard last week about refugees and it’ll be a great opportunity to get an insight into the kind of conflicts that so many people flee.

Siuan is going to be organizing a group, getting stuck into the decorations for the SPB. We’re going to try to sort out candles based on the amnesty logo so if you’ve got any jam jars kicking around, please bring them along.

Nathan is going to go along to the QMU events committee to run our ideas for the after party past them, if any of you are keen to get involved in running club nights, this is a great opportunity.

Louise is going to be sorting out the PR rota and taking any tickets or money you guys have from the SPB.

Coming Up:

STAR are having Michael Collins from the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns along to give them some training on Wednesday. If any of you were inspired by our meeting last week this is a great opportunity to get some training.

On the 30th January – Glasgow Friends of Tibet are Screening ‘Dreaming of Lhasa’ (http://www.facebook.com/events/462818350444455/) which is a film about former polical prisoners in Tibet.

On the 31st Kate Allen, UK Amnesty International Director is giving a talk in the Wolfson Medical Building. Tickets are free but you need toregister ( http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5151251532/eorg) – fun bonus there are drinks afterwards.

Recent Comments

Siobhan McGeechan { Hi GU Amnesty, in light of the decision not to indict Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, I was wondering whether... } – Nov 27, 7:16 AM

Rob Hallam { Hey Laure, my apologies for the delay in replying to you- we didn't get an email notification about your comment which we would normally do.... } – Aug 12, 3:22 PM

Laure { Hi, I am going to study at the University of Glasgow during the first semester of the upcoming academic session. I am interested in defending... } – Jul 26, 2:39 PM

Rob Hallam { The 'LGBTI Rights in the Commonwealth' made it into a BBC News article: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-28318236. Worth attending! If you don't happen to read the article I'll... } – Jul 16, 1:43 AM